Wednesday, January 23, 2013

When I moved to Bodrum, a small port town in Southern Aegean part of Turkey, five years ago
I was surprised to see most of the tangerines and mandarines on the ground after the heavy rains we get here in the winter months and no body bothered about them, since there were too many.
I was raised in a house where we were thought never to waste anything edible, and I felt very sorry for those mandarines on the ground I had to do something! So I started creating and learning new recipes with these fruits. Making jams and preserves is the first approach here. You can made this recipe with mandarines, tangerines or even lemon and lime.

This preserve recipe is an award winning recipe shared by a dear friend Sema Sagat.
I think it is very delicious and pleasant looking.

Ingredients ;

2.5 Kgs or about 20 Mandalines

4 cups of granulated sugar

Juice of 1 Lemon

40 Almonds

Directions ;

Wash the Mandalines very well, and boil them in a pot with lots of water. Take the mandalines out pour the water into the sink and fill the pot again with water and boil again. Repeat this two times more. Than cut the mandalines in two halves, take out the seeds

. Places the mandalines into the pot as seen in the photo, place one almond in the middle of each half mandaline. Pour granulated sugar gradually on each mandaline. Make rows of them in the same order. Leave this pot overnight with sugar, next morning boil them for 10 -15 minutes and cool it down, repeat this three times. Than fill them into the jars these will keep for a year minimum.

This preserve can also be served as a desert with ice cream or clotted cream.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

This will be my first post, please keep in mind that I am not a native English speaker so I might make mistakes please let me know if there is anything that you do not understand.It is now the Mandaline and Tangerine time in my newfound home town Bodrum.There is a great rush to collect the fruits before the frosts to come in the following weeks.This is the time when we collect the fruits and rush into the kitchen to prepare our jams, preserves and marmalades. Here is a recipe from my family where my ancestors link to Trace, the European land portion in Turkey now. Orange PreserveIngredients ;Peels of 6 -7 OrangesNeedle and cooking thread3 Cups of Granulated Sugar1 Cup Orange Juice2 Table Spoons of Lemon JuiceDirections ;

Peel the Oranges or the GrapeFruits as on the photo below.

Make a long neclace like the Hawaian Flowers with the oranges as on the photo below.Soak all the necklaces you made in fresh water overnight. In the morning take the necklaces out of the water and place them in a cooking pot and cover them with the sugar let it stay like that for a day or so. The next day pour in the orange juice and cook the necklaces for about 1 hour, cool it down and do the same thing 3 times. At the last step add the lemon juice cook for about 10 minutes more, cool it down and pour it into the jars.They make great gifts :)

About Me

I am the founder and owner of Cooking Classes Bodrum, I was owner of a tour operator and a hotel management company when I made a change in my life and moved to Bodrum: a town and peninsula of rural villages on the South-western Turkish coast just where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean.
Here I have followed my passion for cooking and love of digging into the history of recipes , that I collected so many stories of recipes and methods.
After a very busy executive life, it was my dream to have my own restaurant where I could go into the kitchen myself, put my hands on food and follow my mother’s and grandmother’s recipes as well as my own recipes and share it with others.
It is now a beautiful reality.
With the advantages of my former life of travelling within Turkey and abroad, with a deep understanding of what wonderful experiences can engage world travellers in local cultures, and I feel the ideal way is by sharing food at the table, with the many methods of preparation and discovering the joys of fresh ingredients.